Like a Thief in the Night
by Lowink
Summary: Under the guise of a man, Spot and Johnny (who is just a man, no guise here)are just trying to straighten out their lives and finally make a respectable living. One bad run in with the wrong crowd leads to more problems than they need. Or maybe the answer they've been looking for all along. Small Heath is full of surprises for them, some wanted and others not so much.


The streets of Small Heath were busier than usual. Talk of a horse, bewitched by the Chinese to win, was circulating around town and the people were running about, trying to get their last bets in. If Spot had any extra money to spare, she probably would have been right next to them. Her and Johnny had run into plenty of gypsies on their travels and she came to learn to take their spells seriously. Johnny was still suffering from a curse put on him a few months ago after trying to steal from a gypsy's carriage. It very well might just be a coincidence, but every time he tried to get close to a cat, it's claws would come out and poor Johnny's face would be unrecognizable. Needless to say, they both avoided cats and gypsies like the plague on their travels now.

They had come to Small Heath a couple months ago, just as dirty and poor as when they had been in London. Jumping from the train when they saw the first sign of a town. It hadn't looked too promising at first, but once they found a place to sleep and a few vulnerable stands to take advantage of, they settled in quite nicely. Johnny had even started to work a couple days a week in a factory as a temp, and Spot was hopeful that she'd be able to do the same too. Her outward appearance was boyish on purpose. Long ago she cut her curls to the style of the men, short on the sides and long on the top. Her chest was of no worry, twenty-one years had passed and she still had the body of a sixteen-year-old boy. It was easy to hide her nonexistent curves and to blend in with the stragglers on the street. She didn't mind, it had been like that for a while. If she were to wander the country as a girl, she knew the only low-level work she would be able to find was laying horizontally in a brothel surrounded by men. Instead she was just Johnny's younger brother, Spot, and it worked. No questions were asked about two young boys who were trying to do some honest hard work to support their family.

Smoke from the factories blocked the heat as they walked. Johnny went ahead, scouting out the area, looking for the perfect opportunity. They were trying to break away from the thievery, but Johnny's temporary job still didn't cover the basic needs, and it was what they were good at; having done it to survive for so long.

He circled back around to Spot and pointed to the entrance for an alley. "There's a middle-aged man over there in a top hat and nice suit," Spot squinted, trying to see through the crowd.

"The one who keeps looking at that shop across the street?" She asked, watching as the man kept glancing at the door to the shop and then quickly down the street. Back and forth, clearly distracted, and clearly well off enough that Spot wouldn't feel bad stealing off of him. She refused to steal from the poor, for she was part of the poor and it would be like stealing from herself. It was some Robin Hood bullshit, but she didn't care as long as she didn't feel too guilty.

"That's the one," Johnny's green eyes glimmered with mischief as he started to plan their scheme. "I bet that chain leads to a nice pocket watch too. Could probably keep us fed for a month, maybe even get some new trousers." Spot looked down at her pants, they had taken them off of a clothesline out in the country about a year ago. They fit decent enough, but they were getting run through and it was likely time for some new ones.

"Alright then, ya thinking we should do 'the chase' plan?" Spot looked around, knowing that the crowd of people would play to their advantage.

Johnny gave a big grin, his ashy hair falling into his eyes. He looked like a boy who was just given a new puppy. "Ahh Spot you always have the best ideas," He grabbed her neck in a headlock and gave a friendly noogie, making a flat area in her curls right on the crown of her head, "What would I ever do without you!?" He cried in a dramatic way, trying to stop her struggles.

"Hey, watch it buster!" She straightened out of his hold and gave him a square punch in the shoulder. He stumbled back, laughing while clutching his arm.

"Jesus Spot, you still got a killer right hook." She huffed, looking away back towards the man.

"Let's just do this shall we?" She gave Johnny a pointed look.

"Alright, alright," He surrendered putting his hands in the air to show he was done playing and ready to get down to business, "You take off then and I'll be right behind you". Spot went to leave but quickly turned back to give her friend their secret sign. She brought her two right fingers to her chest and dragged an x right over her heart. Johnny grinned and returned the sign. She knew they'd be alright now.

With that, Spot took off in a sprint, her eyes locked in on the alleyway, and her feet pounding the dirt hard. She put on her best scared expression as she pushed through the people, her target right in sight. With a deep breathe she ran smack dab into the man with the top hat.

He stumbled into the wall of the alleyway as Spot fell to the ground, coughing from the dirt that surrounded her.

The man stalked towards her, his face red from anger. Spot could almost see the steam coming from his ears. He stooped over her and grabbed her collar, dragging her up against the wall. Spot tried to take deep calming breaths as she felt the cool stone against her back. While this wasn't always part of the plan, it did happen every once in a blue moon, and she just had to deal with it one moment at a time. She knew Johnny was close behind.

"What the hell boy!" Spot flinched from the spray of his saliva as he clenched his fist around her collar. "Do you know who the fuck I am?" Spot shook her head no, her scared expression becoming more real by the minute.

"No sir, I'm sorry sir," She tried to stick to the script, "I was being chased by some men, and I saw the alley and thought it would be my best escape, I didn't mean to I swear!" His grip seemed to loosen and when she looked over his shoulder, she saw Johnny creeping up and ever so slightly taking the pocket watch. She knew he wanted to help but she discreetly shook her head. Johnny gave one last look before leaving and gave her their secret sign. She knew it was his way of telling her to be careful.

The man had seemed to cool down a bit, the angry red of his face had tuned down to a deeper pink instead. He looked at Spot then back to the shop door across the street. He decided that the young boy wasn't worth anymore of his time.

He slammed her into the wall and let her fall to the ground. Spitting onto the dirt next to her he turned his back and started to walk to the shop he had being eyeing all evening. As he was leaving Spot heard him, "Don't make it a habit of running into me, boy. You won't like the outcome"

"What a fucking prick," Spot muttered as she stood up and brushed the dirt off her clothes. The back of her head hurt, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. She stretched her arms and took off towards where she knew Johnny would be. Hoping he already had a few buyers for the watch.

Spot and Johnny sat by the canal, bare feet dangling over the edge barely grazing the water. They had just got back from selling the watch to a young traveling vendor. He gave them a pretty profit of seven pounds, knowing he would be able to make more off of the old Victorian watch. No questions were asked, much to the pair's delight, even if there were a few side eyed glances thrown their way by the buyer. They happily took the money and ran off to the old butcher down the way where they each bought a turkey leg to celebrate.

Johnny thrusted his turkey leg into the air "To my dearest friend Spot! Thank you for putting up with that fuck face so that we could have the pleasure to feast like blue collared arseholes for the night,"

Spot laughed, "A bit weird to toast with a turkey leg, don't ya think?" She greedily took a bite of her own meat and savored the taste. When was the last time she had warm, cooked meat and not stale bread? She couldn't remember. "That watch must have been pretty special to have found us seven pounds though, yeah?"

"Who cares?" Johnny said, leaning back on his elbows, "The guy was a prick, he probably stole it himself from his whore's husband or something."

Spot couldn't shake the feeling that if the man found out it was them that had stolen his watch, they'd probably be six feet under the ground by dusk. She prayed that never happened.

"Ah you're right I suppose," She sighed, mimicking Johnny's movements and leaning back, trying to soak in the last rays of sun. "Either way, I think we should lay low for a while before we do that again. I don't want us looking too suspicious."

"We've always looked suspicious, Spot."

The girl was quiet for a moment, "Eh, yeah that's fair." Johnny gave a hearty laugh and sucked the last of the meat off the bone before throwing it into the water.

"Anyways," he started, "I was planning to tell you before, but I wanted to have our last bit of fun before I told you," Spot looked at him suspiciously not knowing what he was talking about, and with Johnny it could be anything, "They're giving me an actual spot in the factory." Spot shot up from her position, ready to tackle the boy. He hurried on, "It's not much and it's fucking hard work but we might actually be able to do something with the money I make."

Spot grabbed him in a hug, "Johnny that's bloody fantastic, I'm so proud of you."

He affectionately patted her head, "Thanks Spot, but get the fuck off me because this looks weird right now." The girl immediately released him and instead gave him her signature punch to the arm.

"Christ Spot, I think that's enough for today, alright" He cradled his now sore arm.

Spot gave him a big grin, "Sorry 'bout that, I'm just so happy."

"Your happiness equals pain. Yup, check, got it, won't forget it." He said, teasing her. "But yeah, it was about time don't ya think? I'm nineteen and still stealing to get by. It's pretty pathetic" His happy mood was slowly being sucked away by his depressing thoughts, and Spot was having none of it.

She gave a dismissive wave, "No need to think about that now," she slung an arm around his shoulder and started to steer him away from the canal, "You've got a job now, and the only thing you should be thinking about is where you want to go to get a celebratory drink." Johnny's eyes lit up at the prospect of alcohol.

"What about that one pub, The Garrison? We pass it all the time."

Spot smiled, "Sounds good to me, off we go now, we're wasting time standing here when we could be getting drunk." The pair laughed and set off in the direction of Watery Lane.


End file.
